Laguna Coastline News - "Strength Training"
By Catharine Cooper

 

“This war will be won or lost by the American citizens.”  --Dr. Tony Kern, Lt. Col, USAF (ret)

 

I realize, I have had no stomach for war.  I stare down at my dinner plate filled with fragrant fresh foods and images of Afghani children digging in garbage dumps overwhelm me.  I push the meal aside.  I hear my grandmother admonishing me, ‘to turn the other cheek.” Her advice is useless in our current crisis.

 

Dr. Kern’s “Open Letter to America,” shared across the Internet, speaks to the heart of my dilemma.  Indeed, I must now respond differently in the face of adversity. I must become stronger.  I must steel myself, retrain myself, and stand responsibly so that my life – as one of many - can make a difference.

 

“How committed are we America?  And for how long?” Kern continues. 

 

Everywhere, flags wave in the breeze, decorate cars, and patriotic pins adorn jacket lapels. “God Bless America” has hit the top of the pop charts. We ARE proud to be Americans.  We love our country, our freedoms, and our diversity.  But we are also a nation weaned on quick fixes.   And in many ways, we’ve given over the idea of protection to our politicians, our police forces and our armies.

 

In the past year, I’ve had the honor of coming to know an extraordinary man, Richard Machowicz.  His book, “Unleashing the Warrior Within,” challenged my personal relationship to action and achievement.  Utilizing the principals of war he honed in ten years as a Navy Seal, Machowicz explains methods of applying combat mentality to everyday life:  how to master the arts of focus, discipline and determination.

 

With my book dog-eared and underlined, I sought out Mr. Machowicz through the Bukido Institute, the organization he founded. Bukido is defined as, "symbioses of mental and physical disciplines that develop skills for use under extreme stress… a philosophy of performance." Bukido’s mission is concise, simple:  to help people create a world of possibility beyond the limitations of fear. 

 

Sign me up, Coach.  I’m going in.

 

F.I.S.T. Intensive (Fundamental. Individual. Skills. Training. Intensive™) is one of several seminars created by Machowicz. The training specifically deals with how to focus the mind and body, a focus described as, “when clarity, concentration and action converge to create a specific result in the present.” For three days, twelve men and women drilled, practiced, and drilled again.  We learned – kinesthetically – an ownership of our bodies unlike any we had ever known.  We developed action mind-sets and learned to deal with an array of hostile situations.

 

The work is intense.  The rewards are phenomenal. I cannot say strongly enough how different it is to walk, as a woman, down a darkened street, and not feel afraid.

 

I spoke with Richard a few days after the September 11^th bombing.  I sensed in him a sorrow and frustration that was deeper, even than my own.  Because he trains people to protect themselves, he was incredulous that four men could hold 80 people hostage.  Had only one of the passengers completed his F.I.S.T. training, the outcome could have been so different.

 

We, as individuals, need to develop a sense of personal safety.  This is different than an attackers mind-set.  If the question comes to me - live or die, I will clearly choose - live.  And I now have the tools to do so.

 

Dr. Kern writes of the great moral conviction of the attackers.  “They do not fear us,” he writes.  “We must not fear them.”  And so as a people, as the citizens of these United States, we must collectively step into our OWN conviction, that we do have the appetite and stamina to fight the battle against terrorism.  He also writes that the enemy “believes us to be soft, impatient, and self-centered.”  We need to prove them wrong.

 

I lift  up my fork and continue my dinner.  No, I will not be undermined by terrorism.  I will stand up tall.   I will defend myself and my family – and I will hold this space for as long as it takes.

 

For more information on the Bukido Institute, log on to www.bukido.com.  “Unleash the Warror Within,” by Richard Machowicz is available through the web site, or www.amazon.com.  To request a copy of Dr.Tony Kern’s “Letter to America,” send an email to:  catharine@cooperdesign.net.